The Lady and The Beggar
by AngelicBee
Summary: Set in a Victorian-like era, Duncan and Courtney fall in love again. The biggest problems in this story: family and social class. Rated T for caution.
1. Ch 1: Lady Heather

**Third Person's P.O.V.**

 _Picture this: Some old town with fancy-dressed ladies and fancy-dressed men, all sweating their butts off because they're wearing three thousand layers. Also, these fancy people are driven around in fancy horse-drawn carriages because no one can get off their sweaty butts and invent a car. The streets are stone with tall houses made from the same material. The building are close together though there are various alleys where abandoned children and poor homeless people gather what they can to live throughout the day. Above the fancy-dressed people and the homeless, are gray clouds looking as though they are about to pour any second. And all the woman just so happen to have umbrellas the same colors as their giant puffy dresses. Have you pictured all of that? Good, because that's our setting._

 _So, now we're going into one of these rat-infested alleys where a group of homeless boys, about 11 years old, stand around talking to each other. The dirt on their bodies are plain to see, their hair are all shaggy and a mess, and snot runs from their noses._

 _"Oi!" Says one boy, because apparently now this England or something. "Owen! Don't eat all the food!"_

 _A chubby little boy with hair so filled with dirt that it was no longer blond, turns to the other boy, trying to hide the bread he stole from their small pile of essentials. "But I'm hungry!" He complained, as a boy this young would._

 _The boy who yelled at him, who seemed to slightly stand out from the rest, frowned and crossed his arms. His hair was black and almost down to his shoulders. Bright blue eyes shone from under the grime on his face. He looked beaten and bruised, and if you were part of this small group of boys you would know he looked that because he was the most mischievous of the bunch. He was often getting hit by people for stealing, or trying to at least._

 _"Too bad. I'm hungry too, but you don't see me stuffing it up my face." The boy leaned into the other._

 _"Chill!" Jumped in a third boy. His face was bright and happy despite the large red mark on his forehead. A ratty hat sat on his head. If you asked the group, you would know it was his prized possession because it was what cowboys wore. He liked to tell the story about the cowboy who gave him his hat and told him to stay happy, back when he had a family. "Just let him have a little. We'll survive I'm sure. You're good at finding food." He told the other blue-eyed boy._

 _The seemingly leader of the group rolled his eyes toward the little cowboy and turned to the last boy of their 4-person group. This boy had shaggy hair, as did the rest of them, but he was the only actual brunette. The boy had a chip in his tooth and also had blue eyes, like the leader and the boy with the cowboy hat. (Owen had very dark eyes, almost black.)_

 _"Cody!" He barked. The boy jolted from his nap, leaning against a trash can. "Come on, we have to go before the baker finds us here. "_

 _The little boy, who was a year younger than the rest of them, nodded and rubbed his eyes. Suddenly, he stopped and his eyes opened wide. "Run!" The boys understood before he even said anything._

 _The leader, had not been paying attention as well as the other three. The boy with the cowboy hat, Geoff was his name if you were wondering, and Owen flew past the leader, accidentally knocking the young boy on the ground._

 _Looking up, he saw a woman somewhere in her mid-twenties with coal black eyes and long hair to match. She wore the same dress style as every other women you saw walking down the street. Her top was a dark red and the skirt was black. Hanging on her arm was a black umbrella. On top of her head was a large, feathered red hat._

 _The women narrowed her eyes at him. "Little boy." She said with unneeded harshness. "Where are your parents?"_

 _Suddenly becoming shy- No, not shy, but not wanting to give out anything said quietly, "Don't have any. Leave me alone."_

 _The women stood straight, her eyes still narrowed. Slowly, her expression softened and held out her gloved hand. "Come. I'll take you to my home where we will find you a suitable place to sleep and eat tonight."_

 _The boy stared at the hand, afraid of it. Hands had never been kind to him. For as long as he could remember, they had only slapped him or threatened him._

 _Slowly, the boy held out his hand and held on to hers. The woman helped him up and walked with him down the street. It was an odd sight to many passerbys. Of course, it wasn't uncommon for a woman to be holding her son's hand, but the lady was obviously refined. The little boy was wearing clothes that he had not changed out of for months. In any way, they were an unlikely duo._

 _"My name is Lady Heather. What is yours?" She asked him, holding the umbrella above both their heads when it started to sprinkle._

 _The boy paused, suddenly stopping Heather and himself. No one had really ever called him anything. The boy had always been without a family. He could hardly remember before when Geoff stayed with him. He could very well have come off the boats with the Spaniards years ago. The boys in his group had already had names from when they had families. Every now and then, they would really just call him boss because... well, he was the boss._

 _The boy pushed his hair out of his face and looked up at the surprisingly kind lady. "Don't have one."_

 _Heather looked surprised. "You don't have one?" They started walking again. "Well, then let's call you... Duncan!"_

 _"Duncan?" The boy wrinkled his nose at the name._

 _The woman sighed, but smiled. "It's a popular name and I think the name suits you just fine."_

 _The-boy-now-named-Duncan nodded his head slowly. "OK. Duncan."_

 _Heather smiled down at the boy._

* * *

 **Five Years Later**

Duncan rested his head against the wall, so tired of being punished, listening to his mother, Lady Heather, complain about him to her husband. Spaniards had continued coming to their land during the war, and his mother had been very fond of one who had taken shelter in their house two years ago. They had gotten married spur-of-the-moment a month ago. Duncan had had a blast at the party (not really, that's sarcasm).

"I just don't get it. Five years I've raised him, he's 16 now, and he still gets into mischief! Bothering the baker and- and more for no reason! As if he's still poor! It's like he wants to get in trouble. Sometimes I seriously regret taking him in..." He heard his mother sigh and knew she had run her fingers through her hair like she always did when she was distressed.

"Shh. Mi amor, do not get so worried. The niño will come to his senses. Perhaps he just needs friends to show him. You do know he still- um, the word... hangs out... with the beggar boys, right?" Alejandro replied. His English was still not the best.

However, the poor-spoken question turned Duncan's life upside-down. Before we get to the next chapter, let me just sum it up for you: Stuck-up snobs, fancy parties, and a girl who wants nothing to do with this beggar.

* * *

 **So I wrote this story a long time ago and I was in the mood to write some fanfiction, so I decided to fix it up a little bit and actually continue the story, since I only got six chapters in before. I think I have a set plot right now. Let's just hope I keep it!**

 **Thank you for reading! Please review, I really appreciate it. Also, if you end up finding mistakes regarding the plot or even spelling or grammar, please let me know. Like I had Alejandro as Heather's fiance before, so if I say that again, it'd be great if you could let me know. I try my best to review, but you can only do so much!**


	2. Ch 2: Dirt Fight

**(That really long part full of italics is a flash back a few weeks after Heather takes him in. Also, Genoas are Jeans.)**

 **Duncan's P.O.V.**

"Duncan!" I heard her finally call me into the dining room.

Groaning, I got up from the loveseat and turned into the room, leaning on the door frame, my arms crossed. "Yes?"

Her eyes widened seeing my newest addition to my body. Along with already having piercings, I had decided to change up my hair a little bit, and it cost quite a bit of money to get it like this. Who says I act like I'm still poor?

"Why is your hair green?" She shouted, throwing her hands in the air. "And... why is it cropped like that?"

I looked up, as though I could see my creation. "It's called a Mohawk." I ran my fingers across the hair. Unfortunately, it was pretty short because I couldn't find anything to keep the hair sticking up straight. Geoff helped me cut it, but I bought the dye.

Heather shrieked, "why don't you just follow rules?"

I made a half cough-half laugh. "Why don't I follow rules? Look who raised me! Going without a husband most of your life then deciding to marry a- a fugitive?" I gestured to Alejandro who was standing behind Heather and looking just as angry.

She was silent. After a few moments she said with conviction, "Tomorrow you are going to _change_. You will _follow_ rules and act like a _gentleman_. You will not _ruin_ your body with holes and dye. You will _stop_ acting defiant. I am going to find you _suitable_ friends, and you will _not_ be around those homeless boys. You are 16. You need to start behaving like boys your age do. I don't care if I have to force you to go to parties with _good_ people. And- and stop bothering that poor baker!"

I knew after she had finished, it was time for me to leave.

I groaned and left to go upstairs to my room. I shut the door behind me and put a chair up to the door knob to prevent anyone from coming in while I was gone. I turned to the window and opened it. I stood on a ledge as I shut the window behind me. Slowly, I turned around and looked down at the drop. I was on the third floor. It wasn't too much of a dangerous drop, but it would hurt if I messed up the jump

I took one final glance at the trash below me and jumped onto the neighboring buildings roof. The buildings normally were close enough for me to just jump between them. No one really noticed me, luckily.

Finally, getting to my destination- which was on top of a dark gray roof, as all of them looked. I looked down into the alley, finally spotting that fat and dirty blond.

 _"Boss! Where've you been?" Shouted Owen, hiding something behind the dumpster. I didn't care at the moment, it had taken me, already, about two weeks to be allowed to run around town. Lady Heather had spent a lot of time with me, asking questions. Sometimes they were about my life and sometimes they were about my knowledge. I didn't know anything other than how to get around town, but there was no reason for me to know anything else as far as my eleven-year-old self was concerned.  
_

 _"Nothing you care 'bout right now." I told him. "Where's Geoff and Cody?"_

 _"Lookin' for food." He said, rubbing a red hand, obviously from trying to snatch something earlier. His body still blocked whatever creature he had forced there._

 _"Hmm." I narrowed my eyes, suddenly taking interest in what he was hiding. "What-"_

 _"Hey, Owen! Why am I hiding back here again?" Asked a voice from behind him. A red-headed girl poked her head out from behind the dumpster, settling her head on Owen's shoulder. A moment later, she sunk her teeth into it too, but Owen didn't seem to notice._

 _"Izzeeeee." He whined._

 _I froze, very angry. When Geoff found me, we made a pact that we would stay together and never let anyone get in between us boys. At the time, we weren't necessarily thinking about girls, but rather adults. However, now it was an unspoken rule between us all. "Who is she? Girls aren't allowed to be near our stuff," I reminded him. Owen was dumb, maybe he had just forgotten.  
_

 _"Uh, this is Isabella- uh, but I call her Izzy cuz it's a lot easier to say." He scratched the back of his head and continued, "I found her a few days af'er you vanished. She doesn't gotta a home either, so I thought she could have some supplies every now and then. Geoff and Cody are OK with it." Owen explained._

 _About to protest, I stopped myself. "Whatever. I have a home now, so you guys will have to take care yourselves,"_ _I shrugged._

 _"Owen!" Shouted Geoff from behind us. "Hi Izzy," He waved at the redhead who was climbing up a metal fire escape. He turned towards me and an impossibly large grin spread on his face. He ran over and picked me up, being a lot taller than me at the time, it wasn't hard for him to swing me around like he did. "Where have you been, Boss?!"  
_

 _"Yeah... I was- uh- adopted." I told him, rubbing my arm after he put me down. "I gotta a name now. It's Duncan."_

 _"So you're leaving us?" Cody spoke up. I noticed him standing in Geoff's shadow._

 _"You can't leave us, we need you!" Geoff said, incredulous."It was hard enough going- what a month or somethin'- It was hard going forever without you, Boss!"_

 _"It's been two weeks." I told him. "And, you know I can't leave you guys forever. I'll come back when I get the chance and help you guys get into trouble. But I think this might be good for all of us. I'll take care of you guys better than ever." Their faces turned back to happy at the sound of my promise.  
_

Now, five years later, they- no, we- were still altogether. Izzy didn't totally join our group, but she certainly did visit Owen quite a bunch, which caused me and, occasionally, Geoff to tease him. Izzy had, apparently, taken in a couple of girls like we had. I'm not sure how Izzy ever convinced Sierra and Katherine to join her.

I pushed myself out of my reverie and looked back down at Owen who seemed to be chatting with Izzy again. I dropped down to the fire escape underneath me and grabbed a flower pot. I weighed it in my hand before throwing it in between them, almost hitting Izzy's head, as if it would have actually done any damage to her brain.

Izzy didn't even flinch, instead somehow jumping off the walls to get to the balcony I was on and punching me off. "Hee-yah!" She cried out, a triumphant smile on her face. I fell off the balcony and landed painfully on my back. Owen hadn't reacted to the situation at all.

"Hey, Duncan!" Owen's face appeared into my view. His hair was longer than normal, he must be cutting it soon, and he wore his normal dirty green pants with a brownish-white t-shirt I had grabbed for him a year ago. "Guess what? The baker says he'll give me a job if I can clean up a bit."

The baker had always been fond of Owen more than the other boys, mostly because he appreciated the man's cooking more than the others, even if he did steal from too. I replied to him with a groan as I sat up.

"Oops!" Izzy dropped down. The girl has her hair in a crazy mess spiraling down to the middle of her back. Instead of wearing old clothes or stealing some, the girl preferred to make her own from scraps of cloth or leaves. "Sorry, Duncan."

"Yeah, whatever." I rubbed my head before standing up. "Where's Geoff and Cody?" History seemed to repeat itself.

"Cody-" Owen began before the boy himself walked down to where we were.

"Hey, guys!" Cody lifted his hand and waved. Cody had once been a very shy boy, but had slowly come out of his shell and had just started walking around town by himself. Perhaps it was because of Sierra, who had bothered him enough for him to go out by himself to get away from her.

Sierra was a girl who had stuck around with Izzy about three years ago. She often wore blue Genoas and a green shirt that were both in too good condition for her not to be regularly stealing a new set. She also happily accepted purple dye whenever I could get her some.

"Hey, dweeb." I greeted him back. "Where's Geoff? Is he being all Romeo and Juliette with that girl again?"

"Romeo and Juliette?" Owen interrupted, looking confused. Cody wore the same face, but Izzy was amusing herself by creating fire with a broken piece of glass and burning ants.

"Yeah, you know, the Shakespeare... play. Never mind, that snob Noah is getting into my head again." I said, referring to a boy around my age who indulged himself with reading and other boring hobbies. He probably knitted too. Whenever I was forced to go along with my mother to social gatherings I would be forced to be around him.

"Well, Geoff _is_ with Bridgette." Cody said after a few moments of confused silence. Turning around to the alley entryway behind him, he said, "Or was."

I frowned, not seeing Geoff there, but Geoff turned the corner only seconds later.

"Hey, dudes!" Geoff tipped his hat, seeming to be in another world. The hat, which once used to be over sized, now fit his head fine.

"Alright everyone's here. Now, who wants to hear the latest news in my life? You all do, you're all involved." I picked at my nails before looking up at the small group. I heard a shriek and turned to Cody to see Sierra hugging him, practically choking him.

"S-Sierra!" Cody managed out, pulling at the girl's arms.

Behind the purple-haired girl stood a girl with slightly darker skin than the rest of them. She was very skinny and it was easiest out of all them to see she was poor and without anyone to help support her. The girl has only been alone for a year and was found by Izzy a half a year ago. She wore a torn dress, where the top was black and white striped. It tore at her stomach and continued on to the skirt which was pink. Sierra had helped her sew them into a pair of shorts so they were easier to wear. The girl had black hair down to her shoulders. After what I was told was weeks of silence, she finally told Cody her name was Katherine. Owen started to right away call her Katie. She acted a lot like how Cody did before Sierra brought him out of his shell: insecure, afraid, a bit of a loner. Their similarities are probably why she told Cody over everyone else.

Ignoring the newcomers, I continued on. "My darling, sweet adoptive mother has decided I can't be around you guys." I stated.

"So what's the plan, Boss?" Geoff asked me.

"Same trouble as always, and you know crashing a few parties should do." I smirked, knowing all of them (Except Katie, I wasn't sure about her) would be happy to crash a party.

Owen laughed. "Sweet! When is it?"

"Don't know yet. I'll update you guys as soon as I can, but for now-" I looked down at myself, wrinkling my nose at the crisp, white shirt and tidy trousers. "I'm way too clean to be with the boys."

The boys- and Izzy- Grinned before grabbing whatever was near them and throwing it at whoever was nearest. This had always been a favorite game of ours. It's similar to your modern day food fights, except with dirt and trash. After a good ten minutes of laughing, having fun, and hitting Owen in the head, I tried sneaking out of there. They never liked me to leave, but since I was already in trouble, I wasn't about to make matters worse with Heather.

"Hey! Where are you going, Mr. Fancy-Pants?" Asked Geoff and all of them turned to me.

Brown flew at me and I bolted into the cobblestone street, knowing I was covered head to toe with dirt. Everyone was watching, but that was the least of our cares. Very soon, they gave up and watched me run off, but I continued to run. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins and I didn't pay any attention to what was in front of me. People yelled but I kept going- until my shirt caught onto a cart in the street. My body kept going, even though my shirt was caught and I crashed into a person in front of me.

Automatically, my hands flew and grabbed the person in front of me, holding them up to prevent us from falling. I opened my eyes to stare into someone's beautiful onyx orbs. It was girl with tan skin, a little lighter than Alejandro's, freckles dotted across her nose and onto her cheeks. Her brunette hair fell down just past her shoulders. Going to look at the rest of her, I noticed our awkward position. My hand was at the small of her back, the other had flung out to prevent myself from losing balance and falling. I had held her a bit too close, to where our bodies were almost touching. My shirt had come free during the chaos.

I didn't move though. My mouth was agape and I hadn't felt nervous like this since... well, since Heather had first spoken to me. For once, I felt embarrassed.

The girl narrowed her eyes at me, which surprised me. "Ew. Let go of me, you low class..." She trailed off, pushing me away and brushing herself off.

I balked. Low class? I wasn't low class, I was the son of Lady Heath... Even in my own thoughts, I trailed off before reprimanding myself for making myself sound like a rich snob which I swore I'd never be. Plus, I realized my clothes were tattered and my body was covered head-to-toe with dirt. Of course, I looked low-class.

I finally saw the whole body of the girl. She didn't wear a big puffy dress like all the other women, which explained how easy it was for me to hold her up. Instead, she wore a simple dress with a gray top and dark green skirt that went down to her ankles, a strip of white at her waist separated the two. She was very familiar.

A smirk automatically found its way to my face; I returned back to normal. " _Sorry,_ Princess." I rolled my eyes. Glancing at the ground, I noticed a fallen basket with fruit spilling out of it. I picked it up and noticed books at the bottom. "What is this? Books? Young women shouldn't be learning," I mocked the men of our time.

The girl's eyes widened, but she scoffed. "Th-they're not mine, obviously. Give it back!" She grabbed the wicker basket from my hands.

"Then why the need to cover them with fruit?" I challenged her.

She frowned at me, but decided not to fight, instead turning away, rearranging the fruit on to the top of the basket.

"See ya around, Princess!" I called to her, as she held her head high.

* * *

 **Thank you so much for reading and I would really appreciate a review. :)  
**


	3. Ch 3: The Book Store

Another smack hit my head as I watched her walk away and several groans and shouts were heard. I turned around, a silly grin still on my face.

"Duncan!" My group came speeding down the cobble road, laughing and breathless. Apparently, they never gave up, I had just outran them.

"Who was that?" Owen was the first to ask.

"Was it a giiiirl?" Cody narrowed his eyes at me.

"A girl? Yeah, some total snob." I shrugged and turned back towards them.

"You're not going to turn into Geoff are you?" Cody asked, though his joking tone had left. Geoff frowned, his arms crossed, at Cody.

"What? You wanna say that again geek?" I asked, raising him up by the front of his recycled polo. Cody looked terrified and I laughed and put him down. "I'm just joking. Of course not, she didn't even look at me a second time because I look like I'm homeless."

 _All day Geoff had been out of it. All of us were 15, or 14 in Cody's case. It had taken place just a year ago._

 _"Geoff..." I waved my hand in front of my cheery friend. I leaned towards his ear and screamed, "Geoff!"_

 _My second-in-command jumped, startled. "W-what?"_

 _"Where's your mind been all day? I'm going to just go home if you're going to keep acting like this." I folded my arms._

 _"Oh. Sorry, Boss." Geoff looked towards the ground for a moment before looking at the wall across from him. He seemed to be avoiding my stare, but he couldn't get rid of the small smile he had. "I just met a pretty... pretty cool person today." He scratched the back of his neck._

 _"Someone's got a girlfriend." Owen sang, throwing his meaty arm around Geoff. It surprised me how he had kept is chubby weight with how and where he lived. It was probably thanks to the baker._

 _I turned straight towards him. "Girl? I thought the only guy who would have a girlfriend is Owen. Now you're going to leave me too?" I said sarcastically. I acted like it was nothing, but I was really afraid he would leave me too. I know now he wouldn't, but there's always that lingering feeling._

 _Geoff panicked. "I never said it was a girl!"_

 _"I can see it on your face, dude." Cody said, eating bread Geoff had brought. "Is it Sierra? That would really help to get her off my back."_

 _"N-no! It's..." He was quiet for a moment. "Well, it's not exactly a low-class girl." He mumbled. The smile on his face grew a little bigger and I knew he was a lost cause already._

 _"You're in love with a snotty girl?" I practically shouted._

 _"She's not snotty!" Geoff frowned at me. "She hates being rich and wants to help animals. Where do your think I got all that food?" He pointed at the slightly bigger pile we had than normal._

 _"OK. So she helped us out once. She's been raised rich her whole entire life. You think she'll stay with a guy who doesn't have any money, let alone her family will allow it." I pointed out. Owen and Cody looked nervously between us two, not use to us fighting, especially Geoff fighting._

 _"You don't know Bridgette, OK?"_

* * *

I found myself home an hour later. The door untouched as expected. I moved the chair out of the way right as my mother opened the door. I turned towards her, seeing her mouth was agape.

I looked over at the window and saw I forgot to close it. I gulped, but looked at her with a nonchalant expression. I kept a defiant position.

"Duncan!" She yelled. "You are a filthy mess! I can't believe you snuck out to be with those... filthy mongrels! I am going to..." She trailed off, hands running over and over in her hair. She took a deep breath and her face quickly softened. "OK, first, you need to get cleaned up."

"Sure. I'll take a bath in a few minutes." I shrugged.

"No. Obviously, I can't trust you with anything. I'm sending one of the maids to help you."

My eyes widened. "What? No! You can't- That's a total invasion of my privacy!"

"Maybe you should have thought of that before disobeying your mother. Beth will be expecting you in a few minutes. And I'll make sure she scrubs that dye out as well." Heather left the room.

I frowned, but didn't freak out. At least I wasn't stuck with Lindsay, who was the other maid and was just about as smart as a rock. Though her bust almost made up for it.

My mind wandered away from Lindsay and on to the girl I met earlier today. She had been hiding books. She obviously had to have known someone else then; Someone she could get the books from. I thought about it and the only place she could have gotten some books from was obviously the book store. I doubted there was any sort of secret ladies' book club. Luckily, we were only a few blocks down from the book store.

I groaned when I realized Noah's father owned the store as well.

I shook my head. Why did I want to find out who she was anyway? She did seem interesting and definitely worth my time. Hey, it wouldn't hurt anyway.

"Duncan!"

* * *

I ran my fingers through my now-black hair. I trotted downstairs and yelled, "I'm going to the book store."

My mother seemed to have left, but Alejandro was here still. I guess he thought I wasn't trustworthy either because he stopped me.

" _Espera_." Alejandro walked out in front of the door, blocking my escape. "How do I know you're not going to see those homeless children?"

"Uh, because I told you?" I grit my teeth, trying to contain my anger. "Let me through."

"Take one of the maids with you. " Alejandro decided. "Lindsay!"

I groaned, but complied anyway. At least it was the one with the memory of a goldfish.

The blonde hurried downstairs. "Yes, uh, Armando?"

Alejandro rolled his eyes. "Go with Duncan to the book store or wherever he's going."

"OK! Come on, Derek!" She skipped out the doorway.

I looked at Alejandro who smirked at me, arms crossed. I made a face at him and walked outside.

* * *

"Excuse me sir?" I asked the man at the counter. I had left Lindsay in the children's picture books. Even if she was smarter, I wouldn't expect her to be able to read them. Most girls don't know how to read. A smart girl isn't a pretty girl.

The man turned around and I saw it was Noah's dad. He had the same face shape and hair color (I presume, his hair was getting gray now), yet seemed to be a much more cheerful version of Noah. How the two were related, I'd probably never know.

"Duncan? Why are you here? Noah told me that you found books repulsive." He was very surprised to see me.

'Actually, I found him repulsive.' I thought in my head. "I don't actually. It's just hard for me to find a good novel, I'm kind of picky." I shrugged and flashed a smile at him. Noah's dad seemed to be content at that " Uh, I'm not here for a book though. I was wondering if a young girl came here often or at least yesterday. I ran into her the other day and she accidentally picked up something of mine when she was gathering her books, so I need to find her."

Suddenly, he looked he looked very stressed. "W-well, yes... there is a girl who comes to get books... but they are for her father. Her father is a very important man and I don't think he'd appreciate me giving out his daughter's name since she comes to get books... You understand." He laughed. "I just wouldn't want to get in trouble with him is all. I hope you find her, but I have to close up shop."

It was only two, he definitely didn't need to close up shop. So, that meant he knew she was reading when she wasn't supposed to. "I see. Are you sure there isn't anyway I could find her?"

"I only see Courtney when she comes here. Sorry, Duncan. I wish you good luck, sorry again I couldn't give you her name." He shrugged.

I grinned. As much of a smartass Noah was, his dad seemed to be a dumbass. "It's no problem. I'll see you."

Now all I had to do was find out where this important Courtney was.


	4. Ch 4: The Dance

"Oh, Duncan," Heather called, opening my door.

"Hmm?" I answered half-heartedly, face down on my bed. I had to pretend like there was nothing for me to do since I was "grounded" in my room.

"You're going to a dance tonight hosted by some very nice aristocrats. Be ready." She left the room then to avoid any complaints.

Instead of groaning or complaining, like one might think I would do, I smirked instead. Finally, this was our chance to really start up some ruckus.

I picked the lock on my window earlier that day, so I wasted no time in jumping out and completing my normal routine of jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

Luckily, everyone was there, including the girls. Owen was telling everyone all the things he could do everyday at the bakery. I interrupted his talk of the amount of flour that goes into bread.

"Guess who's going to a ball?" I asked, probably a bit too excitedly for my taste. I stood on the fire escape above them.

"Who?" Owen asked, totally clueless.

I rolled my eyes. "You guys are!"

"How are we getting in?" Cody raised his hand slightly.

"Lady Heather is forcing me to go to some fancy party-dance-thing and I thought it would be a great idea for you guys to crash the party."

"Awesome!" Geoff jumped up, fist in the air. Everyone else did a little cheer too.

"Ooo! Ooo!" Sierra jumped up and down. "Cody and I can go on our first date!" She shrieked in excitement.

Everyone else held their ears in annoyance at her screams.

"Yeah, yeah." I calmed the crowd of six in front of me. I jumped down to be in front of them. "But the only way this is going to work is if we look like we're rich snobs. So I'll be in charge of the guy's clothes and..." I looked at the three girls, deciding who would be the best at finding some nice clothes for the girls. "Katie."

She looked up, surprised, making a small noise.

"You're in charge of finding the girls' dresses, OK?"

She slowly nodded.

* * *

"Finding you guys stuff is no problem. Just pick some fancy tux, an over-the-top top hat, and some decent shoes. Don't worry about the price, Rich Boy is giving you a treat." I told the guys outside the shop. "Also make sure you show it to me before setting your heart on it."

In just about ten minutes, we were all done except Cody.

"Come _on_." Owen groaned.

"Hold on!" Cody frowned. "I have to make sure I look good for the ladies."

I snorted. "The only 'lady' you have a chance with is Sierra, who I doubt is going to be happy that you want to talk to other girls."

"Like I care." Cody put on a fake tough guy attitude.

"Right." I rolled my eyes.

Once he finally decided, we went to the Women's Dress Shop to see how the girls were doing.

Sierra insisted on wearing a ridiculous dress with a gray top and orange skirt. Honestly, I knew she probably could have found a worse dress, so Katie and I consented after five minutes of whining.

Izzy was not crazy for once, sort of, and chose a simple green dress. But she also grabbed a purple bonnet and pretended to be an old woman for the rest of the day.

Katie was quiet and I didn't even notice she was there most of the time. But she was holding a nice dress. Like the others, her dress was puffed out and ready for a fancy party of tea and crumpets. It had a white shirt and a pink bottom.

"Are you satisfied with what they found?" I asked her, away from everyone else. I noticed the small smile she had.

It vanished when she heard me speak and she turned to me. Katie gave me a quick nod and handed me her dress.

I sighed and went to buy it with the others, telling the man to tell Lady Heather Burromuerto to pay it next time he saw her.

* * *

"Are you... ready?" Heather opened the door, surprised to see me dressed up.

"Yup!" I said happily, and probably suspiciously to my mother. My friends were in my connecting bathroom getting dressed and washing up. I was only able to bring them a few buckets of water, but I'm sure they were fine. I warned them ten minutes ago to quiet down because my mother would come up soon. They complied and only soft noises came from the room since then.

"The correct answer is 'Yes,' Duncan." She corrected me.

"Yes, your Royal Highness." My shortly-lived sunny demeanor vanished once she went back into teacher-mode.

Heather frowned, but said no more. That was the best she was going to get from me. "You can walk there. It is just down the street. You'll know it when you see it. We have attended there before." She was about to close the door when she stopped and walked over to me.

I got really panicked as she stood right next to the bathroom door.

 **Heather's P.O.V.**

He had grown up so much since I found him. He still had his bright blue eyes that I had loved since I first found him. His black hair wasn't to his shoulders, but closely cropped to his head.

As much as I dislike those street rats, they helped keep him alive until I found him. Though, he was probably the best-off of them with his strong personality and his mischievousness.

What would I have done without him?

I would have had a boring life.

I can't wait for him to grow up and have a successful life like I know he will. He'll find a girl and- wait.

I waved my hand in front of him. He swatted at my hand.

"What do you want?" He was agitated at me. "I'm going to this stupid part like you want." He cast his eyes down, but I could tell he was only angry because I wasn't letting him leave.

"I'm going to ask Mr. Masters to make sure you go, I hope you know that." I assured him.

"I wasn't planning on skipping it, Mother. The streets aren't the friendliest at night." He tapped his foot and looked back behind me either at the bathroom door or the exit to his room.

So, why was he so anxious to leave? The only person he probably knew there was Noah... or that girl Courtney I used to have come over. I smiled. "So are you excited to see Courtney?"

He blanched. "C-Courtney? How do you even-"

"So that's who you have on your mind. Alright, well, I'll just let you leave. Have a good time," I waved at him and shut the door behind myself.

* * *

 **Duncan's P.O.V.**

"Have anyone on your _mind,_ Duncan?" Geoff asked me.

"Shut up, Romeo." I glared at him. Cody and Owen were laughing behind us.

"I finally understand why you were so excited for us to come." Cody put his arm on my shoulder.

I whipped around and held the front of his shirt. "I will pound you."

Cody held his hands up in surrender. I swear I heard Geoff say, "I know who he is going to pound though..." I didn't bother reacting to it.

"Is this place?" Izzy shouted a lot louder than needed in front of us, pointing at a place with dressed up teenagers and young adults.

I nodded, not in the mood to speak to anyone anymore.

"Awesome!" She ran inside, immediately jumping up to a top balcony and bursting through the glass doors, somehow not breaking them with the force of impact she had.

"Cody! Cody! Let's dance!" Sierra squealed and dragged Cody with her, who called for help.

Once inside, Owen darted to the buffet table and Geoff found his girlfriend in only a few minutes. It wasn't the first time I'd seen her, I had seen and spoken to her before at other social outings within the past year. She wasn't that pretty and I knew Geoff could definitely do better if he was going to go for a rich girl, but I wasn't going to stop the relationship. It was up to Geoff to get his heart broken like that. Never trust a blonde chick, I learned that already.

Katie stuck to the shadows, venturing out only to use the powder room or nibble something for a moment.

I, myself, scanned the room looking for a familiar someone. I found her dancing with some guy who could have very well been a supermodel. She wore a purple dress that just went with my little nickname for her, "Princess."

When a song was about to start, I cut in between them, literally, as she blinked.

My plan did not work very well. I, once again, found myself frozen with her in my arms. But her feet kept moving and I let her lead me for a few moments.

After those few moments passed, my face processed in her mind and she froze as well, but I kept us moving. "You?" She asked incredulously.

I opened my mouth and, "Hey, Princess," came out.

"How are you here? I thought you were homeless!" She didn't let go of me, despite her disgust. I could see the supermodel looking annoyed in the corner of my eye. He was leaning against the buffet table, ignoring the girls trying to talk to him.

"Don't judge a book by it's cover." I found the saying ironic.

"But..." Courtney trailed off, at a loss of words. Her eyes were constantly moving, looking at every part of my face.

"Well, Courtney, I know your name, but you don't know mine. I am Duncan." I introduced myself.

"How do you know my name?" She demanded to know.

"The book store owner isn't very good at keeping secrets." I glanced behind her to see Izzy on a chandelier and Owen trying coax her down, brownies stuffed in his mouth.

"What are you-" She tried to turn around to see what I was snickering at. For some reason, I panicked and brought her closer to me, our chests touching.

Courtney glared at me, but put up no fight. "Well, then, _Duncan_ , who are you then?"

"I told you that." I smirked.

"I _mean,_ who is your father?" She tried fighting my grip a little bit, only ending up in tripping and landing into me.

"Don't have one." I answered her question, straightening her up. "But my mother is Lady Heather Burromuerto."

She was silent and I had to look down at her to see she was lost in her thoughts. "But, I knew her son. I was learned to dance with him when I was 13."

 _"This girl is coming so you learn to dance. Trust me, you'll need it throughout life." My mother instructed me. "Please be civil."_

 _"Alright." I nodded. At this point it had been at least two years since she adopted me and I was becoming more comfortable actually being myself around her. I had also started calling her mom, since she was my mom. Mother was a lot less picky then.  
_

 _My mom cleared our sitting room, the maids having put the chairs and couches to the walls._

 _In just a few minutes, there was a knock at the door and a girl around my age walked into the room only a moment later._

 _Outside the room my mother said to her father, "Thank you sir, for giving me this chance. I promise..." They walked outside and I didn't get to see her dad's face, nor hear the rest of their conversation._

 _"Hi." The girl brought my attention back to her from trying to listen to the conversation and found myself frozen. Which, when I thought about it, meant when Heather first approached me wasn't the only time I had been frozen, for whatever reason._

 _She frowned. "What's wrong with you? Can't say hello?"_

 _I shook my head and lifted my hand in a weak way to acknowledge her._

 _She sighed and walked over to our bookshelf, which featured only a few books I could actually read. Her eyes brightened when she found a book and took it off the shelf. She stopped and looked up at me. "Don't tell anyone I can read."_

 _I shrugged, still not able to form a sentence, or a word really._

 _The girl sat on the arm of a chair and buried herself in the book. I realized it was one I had difficult with, not to mention found incredibly boring._

 _"Have you read this?" She asked me suddenly, her dark eyes were full of excitement._

 _"N-not really." I muttered. "I mean, I'm trying. It's boring, isn't it?"_

 _"No way! You have no taste in books." She jumped down from her perch on the chair to face me. She tucked the book under her arm._

 _I probably took more offense than needed to that statement. "You're a girl. You shouldn't be reading anyway. How would you know what good book was?"_

 _"I bet you can't read." She stuck her tongue out at me._

 _"It's not like you can scavenge food for 11 years! You don't have time for stupid reading!" I yelled back at her._

 _"Reading is not stupid." She crossed her arms._

 _"Hey, guys!" Heather walked inside, completely oblivious to out argument. "Let's get started!"_

 _The next four weeks were not enjoyable._

"No wonder we dance so easily together." I smirked, bringing her a little closer again.

"Well, at least you can speak. I see you still freeze though." Courtney smirked back, getting closer to me. There was no space in between us and our heads were very close.

"Duncan!" I looked up and pushed us out of the way, landing on top of her, the chandelier crashing right where we were standing.

Looking down at her, I saw she was, actually, all I could see. Our faces landed in a very awkward position you see..

 **Courtney's P.O.V.**

I felt sparks.

* * *

 **Thank you so much for reading! Please continue to review and tell me what you like and dislike, I appreciate a lot. :)  
**


	5. Ch 5: Chef Hatchet's Cafe

**Courtney's P.O.V.**

He froze above me (something I wish he would quit doing to be quite honest), so I took the liberty of pushing him off me. I glanced over at the broken chandelier, a girl with wild, red, dirty hair was jumping from the pile of broken glass, cuts all over her body, yet seemed unfazed by the crash she had created.

"That was fun!" She shouted, before running over to a fat, blond guy.

I looked back at Duncan, who was staring at me. It almost made me angry that he was staring at me instead of being astounded with what had just happened. Why were all these people unfazed by the accident? "What are you staring at?" I asked hand on my hips.

His expression changed and his obviously fake "Cool Guy" act started up again. "A thank you would be appreciated, Princess." He gestured a few feet behind us where the carnage laid.

I rolled my eyes, but said, "Thanks," anyway. Since, I was over him, I left and went to go find either Bridgette or Justin, the guy I was dancing with earlier. My father insisted I get to know him because it would look good for us, but he was a vain jerk, so I was kind of OK when Duncan intervened.

Bridgette was talking to her boyfriend again. They wouldn't last. I mean, there was no point in even trying, they were raised completely differently. I sighed and went to the buffet table, where a girl, Sarah, and some dark-skinned girl I've never seen before were giggling and chatting.

 **Duncan's P.O.V.**

I got up from the floor after Courtney left me and surveyed the damage. I would just have to pretend I didn't know Owen and Izzy for the of the party, otherwise my mother would give me hell.

I looked around to see where Courtney went, but I couldn't find her. I sighed and looked for someone who didn't break ceiling fixtures. I found Geoff, but he was still talking to Bridgette. Cody was obviously trying to flirt with some blue-haired chick. Sierra was right beside him, completely oblivious to the flirtatious comments. Katie had made friends with a girl who wore the same dress as her, but with a black top instead of white. Noah was here for some reason, but he was sticking to the shadows, ignoring everyone.

Besides being able to kiss Courtney, it wasn't really that interesting of a party, and I went home pretty quickly.

"Hey, Duncan!" Heather greeted me, the moment I walked through the door. "Did you have a good time?"

"Actually, it was pretty boring." I replied honestly, heading up the stairs. "But I met some people to make you happy."

She was content with that.

In the middle of the night, I found myself lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. My mind wouldn't rest and my thoughts drifted from one subject to another. My fingers unconsciously touched my lips before I finally fell asleep.

 **Courtney's P.O.V.**

Other than the "conversation" I had with Duncan, the party was really a total bust for me. I went only because my family needed the attention. Gwen had been busy talking to some annoying kid with a chipped tooth and a girl with purple hair, and Bridgette was sucking her boyfriend's face the whole entire time. There really wasn't much for me to do. But I had to stay there, bored, until practically everyone was gone.

I went home to my gigantic house. My father was a very important person. It was obvious I was adopted when you look at him and me, but he's never told me that I was. Not to mention I never actually met my mother, if I'm not adopted. He doesn't really pay attention to me. He just likes fame and money. I mean, I'm not necessarily complaining. You get some pretty good stuff when you're dad is rich and important, but it also means you can't choose your friends, or who you date, or where you go on Saturday nights. For example: I have to be friends with Gwen, she's not all that bad, but sometimes we just can't get along. We have pretty separate personalities. I'm forced to go on dates with Justin, who, as I mentioned before, is a vain jerk. And the part about Saturday nights? Well, I didn't really want to go to this ball-thing.

I passed my dad going up to my room when I got home. He didn't acknowledge me, just kept going, coffee in his hands. His mind was always on his job and he navigated through our house on auto-pilot. I can't remember the last time I had a conversation with him that didn't have pre-automated replies.

I was just so tired from the day, after almost being crushed by a chandelier, and possibly finding the guy for me- considering the sparks- I fell asleep in my dress.

* * *

 **Duncan's P.O.V.**

I woke up early to go see everyone. My mother slept in late on Sundays, she wasn't interested in going to church, so I was good at least for a couple of hours.

"Hey, guys." I called from my normal perch atop the fire escape. They were all still in their suits with hats, shoes, and jackets strewn across the ground. "Wake up!"

The guys groaned and complained, but got up anyway. "Hey, Boss." Geoff greeted me, his hand absentmindedly searching the ground for his cowboy hat.

"Hey, what are you looking for?" I asked, looking at his hand skimming the ground. I jumped over the railing onto the ground.

Geoff looked down. "My hat. Where is it?" He panicked standing up and looking around.

"Didn't you give it to Bridgette?" Owen asked, rubbing his eyes.

"I did? Why would I do that?" Geoff's voice was hoarse and cracked in the middle of his shout.

"Dunno." Owen grabbed a piece of bread from our pile and started munching on it.

"Now that we're done with that, who wants to come with me to meet Gwen and her friends?" Asked Cody. "I was hoping-"

"I will!" Sierra shouted, popping out from behind the dumpster. "She invited me too, Gwen was really cool."

Cody sighed. "Great."

"Oh hey, Bridgette knows Gwen. I'll come too, Bridge might be there." Geoff offered, his hand was on his head. He looked foolish, but I knew

"Sorry, I've got work." Owen said.

"I might as well come with." I shrugged. "I've got nothing better to do."

Katie and Izzy dragged themselves from behind the dumpster a few moments after Sierra, and Katie was smiling. Like, actually happy. Both of them didn't really want to go, but Cody inquired why Katie was so happy.

"I met this really awesome person. We like all the same things, we even got- like- basically the same dress!" Words babbled from her mouth, and all of us were wondering where the heck Katie was and who this person was.

I left then, not really wanting to hear, to go home and tell my half-asleep mother I was meeting some people, before returning to see everyone was waiting for me.

"Alright let's go. Where did she want to meet you?" I asked, hating that Cody was leading the way.

"A little bistro place, I think. She only told me where it was." He told me. "And we're here."

"It's literally been a minute." I said, looking at the place. I actually came to this cafe (not a bistro) a lot with my mother when I was younger. The Boys never bothered because Mr. Hatchet kept a close eye on the place. The building was owned by Mr. McLean, but he also owned practically everything in our town, so it wasn't much of a surprise.

"Yup, convenient, huh? Oh, there she is." Cody practically ran into the shop.

Walking in, I saw Cody sitting down at the booth across from the three girls. I sat down beside him and looked the three girls. Bridgette was in fact there, the blue-haired girl Cody was talking to last night- who must be Gwen- was there, and... Courtney. In the middle of them, quite conveniently right across from me. Chef Hatchet narrowed his eyes when he saw our group, but didn't come up to us.

"Why are you here?" Blurted from Courtney's mouth. She looked just about the same as last night, but she wore the dress I had seen her in the first time I had met her; when I crashed into her the first time.

"Oh, I thought I'd just sit with you guys. You all looked friendly." I said sarcastically as Geoff scooted in next to me. "I came with Cody to meet Gwen. He's been blabbing about her non-stop." Of course, that wasn't true, but it was going to happen.

"Um, no he wasn't." Sierra interrupted, her head peering over the top of the booth, she was kneeling on the booth behind us, since there wasn't room for all four of us on the same booth. "Duncan, don't be trying to embarrass my Cody-kins."

A giggle erupted from each of the three girls, before all three quickly quieted themselves again. You could tell they were raised to act the same: prim and proper.

"Geoff, I'm glad you know Cody. I was thinking of inviting you, but I didn't want you to be with a whole bunch of people you didn't know." Bridgette said. I looked her up and down. Her blonde hair was curled to the point that the strands seemed to be strangling themselves. She had dull green eyes that didn't brighten even with the small amount of makeup she had on her face. She wore a blue dress that almost looked like a nightgown. Bridgette continued to bore me.

"Oh, Cody and I have known each other a while. Duncan took us in and we've been living-" I took the liberty of elbowing Geoff in the ribs for Cody.

"Stupid, I doubt Cody told Gwen he lives on the streets." I whispered to him.

"So you're all orphans like Geoff?" Bridgette said, holding a cup of tea in her hands. Her eyes scanned all four of us excitedly, like we were animals she'd never seen before. These rich people disgusted me.

Gwen was sipping tea when she stopped and her eyes widened, practically spitting it out. "You live on the streets?"

Courtney was also surprised by this statement, she started coughing. "I thought you said you weren't!" She accused me.

"Oh, he's not." Sierra decided to join in, pointing down at me. "Duncan _was,_ but he was adopted when he was little. And, you know. He just hangs out with us all the time because he says rich people are snobs."

"Thanks..." I muttered to Sierra.

"But the rest of you are?" Gwen asked. The girls seemed to ignore my statement; Maybe because they knew it was true.

"Uh, yeah..." Cody answered, looking a lot like ten-year-old Cody.

"OK. That's fine, I just didn't know. How'd you all get to go in the ball with those outfits and all?" Gwen asked.

"Let me rephrase what Sierra said. I was adopted by Lady Heather Burromuerto when I was little." I told her.

"Oh."

I glanced over at Geoff who was in a separate conversation with Bridgette. When there was a silence for a few moments I asked, "What's with the weird... look?" I was referring to Gwen's makeup and hair and clothes. Unlike the small amount of makeup that Courtney and Bridgette wore, Gwen's face seemed to be completely made out of it. White powder was accompanied by dark lipstick and thick eyeliner. Her hair was dyed blue, but you could see it was really black. Her dress was sleeveless and black. It was only a corset with a matching frilly bottom.

"I'm goth," she replied, a look of boredom on her face. She rested her head on her hands.

The four of us looked between ourselves, wondering what the heck that was.

Courtney sighed. "Not a lot of people are. You're just... different. You kind of hate society a lot of the time. Normally depressed. All of which she's _not,_ but insists she is anyway."

"Don't act like I'm not here." Gwen interrupted her. "I can be whatever I want."

"Let's not fight." Cody tried intervening.

"Whatever." Courtney crossed her arms, leaning back against the booth. We all only stayed for a little while longer before everyone decided they had to leave.

I stayed a few yards behind Cody and Sierra as we left and headed in the opposite direction as the girls and Geoff. Except, Courtney decided to join me on my walk.

"Alright, you better tell me now. Are you Lady Heather's freaking son or not?" Courtney asked.

"Why don't you see for yourself? Want to meet my parents?" I asked.

"Not really, I just-" I stopped her from talking by grabbing her arm and running.

"Hey! I can't run- stop!" I ignored her cries and kept going.

"Welcome to Casa de Duncan, Princess." I said, slowing down in front of my door.

Courtney was panting,"Don't... do... that again." I grinned at the sight of her doubled over.

"You obviously spend too much time reading, which you're not supposed to do, and not enough time outside." I said, opening my door.

"Neither of which I'm supposed to do. Girls aren't supposed to play outside and get dirty either." She pointed out.

I heard a gasp and I whipped my head around to see my mother, staring at me opening the door for Courtney.

"Why would you bring _her_ here?" My mother shouted, which caused Alejandro to come running from behind.

"Mi amor, is everything alright?" He asked her, holding her hand.

"No! Duncan decided it would be a good idea to let... you know... his daughter here!" She gestured wildly at the two of us. Alejandro noticed her and his eyes widened before he ducked into the kitchen.

"Did I miss something?" Courtney asked, looking back and forth between us two. "And who was that guy? He seemed familiar."

"Yeah, I would like to know what is going as well." I said, shutting the door behind us.

Heather sighed. "Never mind that. Lindsay, Beth!"

The two maids hurried in. "Yeth, Ma'am?" Beth asked. She had a lisp which annoyed everyone.

"Get us some refreshments." She ordered them. They nodded and left. Heather turned back to us. "Come into the living room. Please, make yourself at home."

Courtney frowned, but went along with it.

I stood in the doorway to the room as the girls sat down on the red love seat.

"So why did Duncan bring you here? Last time you were together, that I remember, you hated each other." She remembered, laughing a little.

Courtney looked at me, asking for help silently. I shrugged. I had no idea what was happening.

"Um, well... I was confused as to whether he was actually you son or not, since one of his friends mentioned something about them being without homes." She explained. I groaned inwardly, she had to mention that we were with _my_ friends.

Heather froze. "You... let her near your friends?"

"That's not at all what happened." I stopped, shaking my head. There was no point in me even trying to explain.

"Oh well, they didn't touch you did they?" Heather asked, putting a hand on Courtney's arm.

"No, it was perfectly fine. I was just going with my friends to meet someone else. He came along with them." Courtney said, taking a tea cup from Lindsay.

Heather smiled, which I easily saw through. She was just dying to punish me. But for some reason she had to look good to Courtney.

"Hold on." I put my hands up. "What is the big deal with her? Why are you acting all fake?"

"Fake? What are you talking about?" My mother asked, giving me a glare when Courtney looked up at me.

I stared hard at Heather. She was panicked, but trying to keep cool. "You know what, maybe Princess should go."

"Yeah!" She jumped up, fixing her dress. "I only came to find out. I should be home anyway. No need to worry my dad."

"Oh, alright. Just tell your father, I said Hi." She smiled again.

I led Courtney to the door and walked out with her. "Can I ask who your dad is?"

She cocked her head at me, amusement in her eyes. "You really don't know?"

"No! I don't!" I told her.

She laughed a little. "Then I'll keep it a secret."

"Come on! You can't keep that a secret." I said as we stopped in front of the book store.

"I will though. You can leave now, I need to... pick up a book for my father." She smiled at me.

"I have nothing to do, you might as well show me some of your favorites and try to convince me to read." I offered.

"Oh... Um, sure." Courtney looked worried, but decided to let me come with anyway.

Inside, the only person was the clerk at the counter, who just so happened to be Noah.

"Hey, Courtney." He greeted her.

"Hey, Noah. I'm just here to try and find a new book for my father." She explained.

"Sure, one sec- Duncan?" He noticed me behind her. "Have you come here to ruin all our merchandise?"

I rolled my eyes. "No. Just help the lady."

"Sure. What does he want this time?" Noah slipped from behind the counter.

The two of them discussed which book her father might like, even though all of the "I'm interested in" that Courtney should have said turned into "My father is interested in." The whole ordeal was ridiculous and boring to me. Instead, I looked at the shelves, looking at the prices of all the different pieces. Some I recognized, some I didn't, some I couldn't even read the title.

"Find anything?" Princess asked me, surprising me.

"Gah!" I dropped the book I was holding. It was in a different language, probably Latin.

She laughed, "Come on. Let's go."

"You didn't show my any good ones," I found myself saying. I didn't actually want to read at all.

"I was watching you and you picked up some good ones... But then again I think all books are good." She said as we started walking outside again.

"You know... Now that I think about it... We're both kind of rebels." I told her, watching her eyes scan the back of the book.

"Well... I guess, but I act... unladylike, and people don't know that, which defeats the purpose of rebelling, I think," She explained. "You, on the other hand, I've never actually seen do anything rebellious besides hang out with your old friends, which your mom obviously doesn't like."

"I mean my hair use to be green.," I reminded her. "It was when I crashed into you."

"That's true." We walked in silence for a little bit before she stopped. "We should stop here. I don't want you finding out where I live and who my father is."

I sighed. "Fine, but we will see each other again, right?"

She nodded. "I... had fun today." She smiled before leaning in and kissing me on the cheek. "See you." And she left me there.

...

"Your face is red." A familiar voice observed a minute later.

I snapped out of my position to see Cody there. "Shut up."

"Hey, do you think it'll be easier to ask out Gwen since you're getting all friendly with Courtney and Geoff's dating Bridgette?" He asked me as we both started to walk.

"I don't think she's interested in you to be quite honest." I told him.

"You're right, Sierra _will_ get in the way." He replied to something completely different to what I said.

I rolled my eyes.

* * *

I heard my mom's voice from the kitchen as I walked into the hallway. What was so familiar about this?

 _I was so tired... I had woken up from a nightmare. I went downstairs to get a glass of water, not wanting to bother the poor maids or wake up Heather. It was somewhere in the middle of the time where I was forced to dance with Courtney._

 _Heather was awake, she was talking to herself in the kitchen as Alejandro had not yet taken refuge in their house; the Spaniards would attack their town in only a month or two, but that was the future that I had not known yet._

 _I stayed by the doorway and listened._

 _"Why can't they get along? I might as well abandon him again if this doesn't work... No, that won't look good to everyone else. Plus, in the rare chance they end up do getting along, I need him." There was sigh and I poked my head through the doorway to see her pacing, fingers in her hair. "The two of them are the only chance I have to..."_

I can't remember anything after that. Why must my memories be so convenient for the plot? I mean... Inconvenient for me?

My so-called mother may have been only using me to gain an advantage and obviously to be liked by Courtney's father, but _why_ was he so important? But then again, I was half asleep, had I really seen that or did I just dream it? I couldn't remember anything after that.

Heather came out of the kitchen, her conversation with herself finished. "Oh! Hello, Duncan!" She looked surprised.

"Hey, who were you talking to?" I looked into the kitchen seeing no one there.

"Myself." She didn't look like she was lying, but she was nervous. "Did you hear what I was saying?"

I shook my head.

"Alright, um, Beth will be done with dinner in an hour. I'll go tell her to start it." She changed the subject and left. What was my mom hiding from me?

* * *

 **I hope you guys know I don't have anything against Bridgette actually. I actually really like her, unfortunately she's just the main target of Duncan's hate against rich people. Probably because he wants to protect his best friend and all... yeah.  
**

 **Thank you so much for everyone who's reading! This is the last of the chapters I wrote a long time ago, so we'll see what happens from here. Please review everything you liked and everything you didn't like, I really appreciate it.**


	6. Ch 6: The Trouble With Tutors

" _Dios mio_. He's eating with us!" Alejandro exclaimed as I sat down with my bowl of soup. He sat at the end of the table, like he had been the man of the house since day one.

"Don't get use to it, Al." He glared at my use of his nickname. My mother sat down across from me, we sat in the two chairs next to Alejandro. Heather jabbed her spoon in the air like a sword at me while saying, "We need to talk."

"Don't we always?" I replied, raising a spoon to my lips. Heather's hair was frazzled and coming out of her ponytail. She was wearing a nightgown that seemed to match with the black of her eyes and hair. I noticed her tight grip on her silver spoon—she was not a happy camper.

Mother narrowed her eyes at me. "Yes, we do. I was hoping you would grow out of your bad habits, yet it's only getting worse. It's not fair, Duncan. I've done everything for you, but you can't behave every now and then for me." Her voice had turned from angry to tired and frustrated.

Alejandro's eyebrows furrowed, but he stayed out of the conversation overall.

"Que nunca ha sido pegado," I heard my stepfather mutter. I looked back over at my mother to see her waiting for an answer. Her hand with the spoon had lowered back down to the table.

"You can't teach an old dog new tricks. I'm not meant to be a gentleman. I belong on the streets. Of course I appreciate what you've done for me, you're my mother," my typical excuse rolled off my tongue. "I try my best-"

Heather cut me off. "No, it's more than that Duncan. You can't get off with that spiel this time. Her father is my boss. He needed a boy to accompany her when she was learning to dance. I volunteered you and I got more pay to raise you. If you scare her off and make it seem like you're a wild animal, he'll know what kind of parent I am. If I can't handle my own son, how am I going to handle the town?"

I paused, leaving my spoon in my half-full bowl. I already knew she was using me, but now she basically admitted it. "So you're saying you only need me to get a pay raise? Otherwise I'm nothing to you. Thanks, mom." I pushed myself away from the table and ignored Lady Heather's calls while going upstairs.

* * *

I woke up far earlier than I normally did, just as I hoped. My tutor would be back today from her visit to France. Eva always arrived earlier than we woke and would wait without moving in our living room, taking cup after cup of tea from Beth. She was strict and never let me go until I understood. That didn't stop me from forgetting as soon as she left.

I looked out at the pink sky, the sun would be rising soon, and that meant Hell was on her way. I tossed the lock off my window and just looked around. The town was really beautiful when know-it-all aristocrats weren't parading around in thousands of expensive layers. The sun shined off the roofs making them look red-orange. The cobblestone shined even with coats of dirt on it. I could hear birds calling instead of the click-clack of horseshoes on the road.

Just as I made that thought, I heard them: Eva's horse carriage. I carefully shut the window behind myself, leaving it open just enough for me to get in again. I ran across the roofs, enjoying the solitary sound of my shoes thudding on the roof tiles.

Once I had made my way to my destination, I peered carefully down. The girls were still there, which surprised me, but everyone had changed back into their normal street clothes. Owen was sleeping on his back, Izzy curled up on his belly as though she were a cat. Sierra was spooning with Cody, holding him close to herself, his arm lying lazily away from the pair. Geoff still didn't have his hat and he was curled up under one of the blankets I had brought for them a while ago. Katie was the same, staying safely near the wall.

For a moment, I felt bad that I had slept in a bed all night. I never realized how different our situations were. I was so spoiled. But that moment quickly passed and I quietly walked down the fire escape. Izzy opened an eye and watched me sneak down the metal stairs. There was no sneaking around Izzy.

The redhead crawled down from Owen's belly as he snored and rolled over. "Why are you here so early?" She whispered from her crouch on the ground. It was an odd sight: Izzy being calm.

"I'm not quite sure," I whispered back. I held out a hand as I told her to get off the ground. She took my hand and complied, dusting herself off.

We both stood in silence for a moment, looking at our sleeping friends. Izzy interrupted the silence. "Isn't it nice?"

I looked at her, waiting for her to elaborate. When she didn't, I asked her, "What's nice?"

She shrugged. "No one realizes where we are and how we live when we're asleep. When we're asleep, _we_ can be the kings and queens."

Izzy's out-of-the-ordinary observation struck a chord in me.

 _I pointed at his head. We were probably 6 or maybe 7. He was the strangest thing I had ever seen._

 _At the time, I tagged along with a group of teenage boys. They didn't tell me to go away, but they didn't acknowledge me much either. The group had left to cause some ruckus and I had slept in, so I missed out on the fun. Yet, missing out on the fun that day was probably one of the best things that had happened to me. I turned to see a boy my age. He had the blue eyes and blond hair of a rich man and he was dressed up like one too. His hair looked like it had been brushed every day except today. And on top of his head, was a ratty hat that almost covered his eyes._

 _I pointed at his head again. "What's that?"_

 _He walked up to me and I could see he was sad. His face was red and puffy. He smiled at me before he spoke though, "A cowboy hat. When I was in Texas, a cowboy gave me his hat."_

 _I wrinkled my nose at it. "What's Texas?"_

 _He sat down in front of me and crossed his legs. "It's part of 'merica. Cowboys got cows and guns and all the pretty ladies. And they're always happy because they got a great life."_

 _I didn't react to his answer. Instead I asked another question, "Where're your parents?"_

 _His smile fell and he grabbed his hat from his head and started playing with edge of it. He waited a long time before answering, "There was a fire last night. Nanny got me out, but not my family. They was gonna put me in a orphanage so I ran away."_

 _I remembered seeing the smoke before I fell asleep. I never thought that someone was dying at that time. But death wasn't an odd thing for me even at that age. I just can't remember any before the boy told me about his family. "Oh."_

 _"Where's your family?" He asked me, a grin back on his face._

 _I looked up at the blue sky. "Pro'ly in heaven with your parents. I dunno."_

 _We were silent again._

 _"When I was in Texas, the cowboy pointed at me and my little sister and said were the luckiest kids he ever did see. He told us that we should always be happy while we're alive, just like cowboys are. And then he gave me his hat," The boy put the hat back on his head. "So I say, we're gonna stick together and not let anybody get in between the boys; no adults are gonna tell us what to do, alright? We're gonna be the kings! I, Geoff, swear upon it." He spit on his hand and eagerly held it out to me._

"Kings, huh?" I looked over at Izzy to see her biting Owen's hand in a desperate attempt to wake the fat boy up.

* * *

 **Courtney's P.O.V.**

"Do you think your father will think I look good in this?" My tutor, Mildred O'Halloran, asked. I looked up to see her wearing a ginormous red dress with the sleeves falling off her shoulders.

"Just as much as he'll like every other dress he doesn't see you in because he's never home," I sighed, flipping a page of my book.

Mildred smacked my hand. "Put that book away, what are you, crazy?"

She glared at me with disgust.

"Men won't find you attractive if you're always reading. Let alone if you can read. How many times do I have to tell you that shows independence? Men want a woman who will be completely dependent on him. He has to handle the house and the money, and you can stay home to take care of the cooking and the cleaning and the children." She looked back into the mirror, gazing at herself.

"No, I won't do any of that. The maids and the nannies do that. I just look pretty at tea parties."

"Now you've got it!" She grinned and tossed my book into the trash.

I sighed and got up. "Alright what are we doing today, Mildred?"

She groaned as she hurried over to her basket. "Please stop with that name. I'd like it a lot better if you would call me Blaineley, or if anything, Miss O'Halloran." She held up two identical white cloths. "Tell me what the colors of these are?"

I hated this drill. When in my life would I need to know the difference between eggshell and cream? And why would that impress any of the other ladies I would need to speak to? Why was that knowledge okay, yet reading not? Ladies are smart about some subjects to make them feel better about themselves, even though what they know is of no importance.

"Eggplant and maroon." I replied, looking at her straight in her cold, blue eyes.

Mildred groaned dramatically. "What do I have to do to get you to understand how to be a lady like me? Your father chose me specifically because he knew I was the most ladylike and he wants you to grow up to be like me."

I gagged at the thought of being as self-absorbed as Mildred O'Halloran was. She glared at me, tossing the cloths onto my dresser. "Fine, we'll take a break today. Tell me about your social situations. Where did you go with your friends yesterday? You cancelled our lesson, so it better be good." She plopped down into a rocking chair and tossed a high-heeled foot over her leg.

"Just meeting some…gentleman from the party," I shrugged, sitting up on my bed. I glanced at the book in my trash.

"Did you meet with Justin? He's good-looking on the eyes and the heir to a major fashion company. Your father needs to build up in this town. You're lucky Justin decided to come to that party," Mildred babbled.

"No, I didn't meet with Justin. Actually, do you remember the boy I learned to dance with when I was 13?"

"That street rat Lady Heather picked up? Yes…You met with him? How disgusting, he still messes with the town with the other mutts." Mildred wrinkled her nose. "You should really never see him again."

"He doesn't seem disgusting," I muttered under my breath.

"Trust me, doll. Heather's son would have fun with you for one night, but Justin can give you a life of luxury. Why do you think I'm still running after your father after all these years? _I_ need a life of luxury."

* * *

 **A new chapter finally finished! Thanks so much to my friend, Yadi H. for looking over it for me.  
**

 **Thank you all for reading it too. Please review it with all the good things and bad things if you have a moment, I'd really appreciate it. :)**


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